New Vessel For Leper Mission’s Work

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28750, 22 November 1958, Page 15

New Vessel For Leper Mission’s Work

'The Press" Special Service

AUCKLAND. November 21. The launching of the 55-foot auxiliary ketch Mala Twomey at St. Mary’s Bay this week marked the end of a ship-building programme unique in the South Pacific. The vessel is the last of three similar ships to be bu>h ! for leprosy relief work in f(he Solomon Islands. Designed to serve as a “floating i hospital.” the Mala Twomey will be handed over to the Roman Catholic mission. Her predecessors. the Fau?>bu Twomey and the !Ozama Twomey arc already in • the Solomons and are being operated respectively by the ! missions of the Anglican and : Methodist Churches. ! The ships have all been named i after Mr P. J. Twomey, founder jof the Lepers’ Trust Board, who

took the leading part in raising the money for the vessels. The building and fitting-out of the three ships will, when completed, have cost the Lepers’ Trust Board about £60.000. It is one of the most ambitious programmes the board has ever undertaken. ' The original plan was fur four i ships, but the Presbyterian mission working in the New Heb- ! rides decided that the upkeep and i running costs of its vessel would be beyond its resources. Instead, the mission was given a sum equivalent to the cost of the ship •to build a cottage hospital. i Like her sister-ship, the Mala {Twomey is built of heavy kauri. ;and will displace 40 tons. Her hull is copper-sheathed as a protection against marine borer. Designed by an Auckland boatdesigner. Mr A. J. Collings, and built by Charles Bailey and Sons. Ltd., the Mala Twomey is 55 feet long. 16 feet in beam and 7 feet 10 inches in draft. Engine and Sails She will be powered by a 95horsepower diesel engine, but will carry sufficient sail to be independent of her engine if need be. Her speed, under engine, will be nine knots. She has accommodation for 10 persons. The captain, a doctor and; probably a dispenser and two' nursing sisters will live in the' after accommodation. The crew| of five will have bunks in the fo’c’sle. The Mala Twomey is expected! to be ready for her 2000-mile journey to the Solomons about the end of this month. She will be captained on the delivery voyage by an Auckland yachtsman, Mr Mark Anthony, who delivered both earlier vessels. Sailing with him will be Mr L. Parker (engineer) and Messrs W. R. Williams and J. G. Fitzgerald, all of Auckland. On board the little ship will be surgical and dental equipment, medicines, drugs and stores for the mission. The Mala Twomey’s main job will be to ferry doctors and nurses between the more isolated islands of the Solomons group. Most of the medical work will be done on shore, but the doctor will, if necessary, be able to treat his cases on board. So that they can be easily identified. all three ships are painted in distinctive colours of grey and white.